Blog
Working With Wool, A Guest Post from Vivian Ross-Smith
'Form'. Shetland wool on Burlap. 20x21cm. 2018 You don’t have to look hard in my studio to find wool. There are balls of J&S yarn scattered everywhere and crimps of raw fleece dotted around my work benches. There’s a grip and bite to Shetland wool that is unlike any other wool I have used in my work; the texture is beautiful to hold and excellent to work with. J&S have an enticing range of colours waiting to grab your attention but it’s the natural shades that always sit best with my work. Reminding me of shearing sheep on my home island of Fair Isle. 'Fair Isle Scattald' 2018, acrylic on wood. 14 x 12 cm each (series of 17) 'Ewes Out' 2018. Shetland wool handstitched on canvas. 70 x 51 cm (Detail) Some of my fondest childhood memories are gathering as a community to ‘caa’ sheep. This process involves walking through the rugged, heather-covered hills as one to manoeuvre the flock toward the ‘crü’, a large enclosed pen from which sheep can be sheared and dosed. Feeling the rich, almost sticky lanolin coat my hands as I prize fleece away from skin to find the growth line I will clip along. Not only have these textures, colours and smells stuck with me, the coming together of community to work collectively had a huge impact on me too. As with many artists, my personal history is an integral framework for my practice. The mentality and dynamic of island communities’ shapes my work, I approach my art as an islander. 'But if you use the word craft, it's like you're politicising the word craft', 2020. Shetland wool and acrylic on paper 'Craft Conversations II', 2020. Canvas, felt, acrylic, Shetland wool, wood and tracing paper Materiality forms the backbone of my practice from which I explore the aesthetic qualities, as well as the cultural value of material. Fish skins, salt, wood, and hessian are paired with traditional island skill sets such as knitting, knotting, weaving and stitching to communicate craft, skill, isolation, and commitment to place. It is wool, however, that features in my work time and time again – a material completely intertwined with Shetland culture. When I use wool, I play a small part in feeding into the long and rich history of crofting, knitting and textiles in Shetland. 'Stitch', 2019. Hessian and Shetland wool. 24x24cm 'Sorting + Grading' 2019. Shetland wool and burlap. 140x80cm 'Sorting + Grading' 2019. Shetland wool and burlap. 140x80cm (Detail) Living on a small island like Fair Isle simultaneously requires self-sufficiency and a willingness to rely on neighbours. Although not the only industries, the laborious working of land and sea through crofting and fishing, is still a common practice on Shetlands islands. I use my practice as a method of echoing the types of work that take place on islands, commitment to working in a repetitive and laborious way is mirrored through the rhythms and durational nature of my work, reminiscent of the ebb and flow of the sea, or the back and forth of a knitting machine. Alongside the workload of an islander comes a collective commitment to place and way of life, which highlights the need for a strong community, allowing a sharing of workload and the building of support structures. It is this joined-up thinking I am interested in. To me, islands are places of coming together. Good Mother, 2018. Shetland wool handstitched on canvas. 70 x 51 cm 'Moder Dy', 2019. Haddock skins, Shetland wool, wooden bar This shared working is very apparent in the crafts of the island and particularly in the knitting, where its commonplace to share patterns and knitting knowledge with neighbours, friends and family. The social aspect is what draws me to textiles and from that stance, my appreciation of wool as a material strengthens. 'J+S', 2019. Raw fleece hand-stitched with Jamieson and Smith yarn. 24x24 cm I’ve never been taught how to use stitch properly, instead making it up as I go along with whatever means make sense to the work. The same goes for my knitting, although Fair Isle is my home island and I have been surrounded by exceptionally talented knitters for my whole life, I only taught myself to knit garments properly in 2017. My use of wool in my artwork has always been intuitive and centres around the development of tactile surfaces and trying to gain an understanding of the materials form and function. piece could be as simple as exploring the relationship between raw and spun wool, yet the touch of the fleece, the smell of the lanolin, the individual crimps, keep my mind and hands engaged for hours. Or the conceptual could take forefront, how does craft practice fit into fine art? Is the internet the new craft space rather than gathering and making physically? Regardless of the starting point for a piece of work, it’s the material - and usually the wool – that my mind goes to first. 'Craft Conversations III' 2019. Shetland wool and canvas I ask viewers to look at material from a perspective they’re not used to. I ask them to question its qualities, origins and if our understanding of the material itself can be built on. From this place of constant learning, a deep appreciation can be formed. ------------------------------------ Vivian Ross-Smith is an artist working from the Shetland Islands. She adopts a collaborative and systematic approach to making and sharing through painting, textiles and the digital. Her work creates space to discuss the practices of island life from a contemporary, fine art context and explores the textures, qualities and values of material and space. Ross-Smith’s work builds relationships and conversations between material, place and people and is as much about experiencing as it is about seeing. https://www.vivianrosssmith.com @vrosssmith Thank you Vivian for this guest post - we hope you are enjoying our Wool Week content - make sure to follow our instagram and subscribe to our youtube channel - if you haven't already! Happy Knitting!
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Knitting an Afterthought Heel, Guest Post from Lesley Smith
My name is Lesley Smith and I am a knitter and designer living and working in Shetland. Ella has asked me to write a short blog post for Wool Week 2020 about my method for knitting an afterthought heel into a Fair-isle sock. An afterthought heel is as the name describes, a heel that is knitted on when the rest of the sock is completed. It’s a common sock heel construction but not one that was traditionally used in Shetland as far as I can find. All the old examples of socks I have seen here have a heel flap and gusset. I chose to use an afterthought heel for a number of reasons. It allowed me to use the same design on the heel and the toe. I could also use design elements from the crowns of Fair-isle tams and berets, which I love. Best of all I don’t have to purl every 2nd row of colour work on a heel flap. Here, I am going to show you how to pick up the heel stitches after the rest of the sock has been knit. As you can see from photo 1, I have knit the whole sock save for the heel, with waste yarn knitted in where the heel will go. The waste yarn I used is a synthetic in a contrast colour which makes it easier to see and remove. I have knit it across half the stitches of the sock. The next step will be to pick up the stitches above and below the waste yarn. I like to pick these stitches up before removing the waste as it avoids dropped stitches! I use a circular needle with a long cable in a finer gauge than the sock was knit with as it makes it easier. Begin picking up the stitches from the side of the sock where the row begins. This will keep the jog in the pattern on the sock and the heel at the same side. In this example, I’m picking up the leg stitches first. Once you’ve picked up the leg stitches (half of the total number of stitches to be picked up) slide the stitches onto the needle cable. Turn the sock so the toe is nearest you. Pick up the sole stitches by going behind the right leg of each stitch. Picking them up this way prevents them from being twisted. When all the sole stitches are picked up slide them onto the cable needle. Next, we are going to remove the waste yarn. With a tapestry needle or knitting needle pick out one stitch at a time all the way along. If the end gets too long snip it off as you go. Now all that’s left to do is transfer these stitches onto the needles you knitted the rest of the sock with. In my case, it was a short circular needle. Before you begin to knit, check your stitch count. I usually have one extra stitch on the sole which can come in handy! When you knit the sole stitches, knit up to the last stitch. This last sole stitch can then be knitted together with the leg stitch next to it. This helps to close any small holes at that side. If I don’t have an extra stitch there, I would pick up something to do this with. Any holes at the other side can be closed by using the yarn ends to weave in on the back. I hope this will help and inspire you to give it a go. If you’d like to see any more of my designs you can find me on Etsy as TakDeeSock and on Ravelry as Lesley Smith Designs. Hope to see you for Wool Week 2021! Thanks to Lesley for this guest post, the yarn used in her sock shown here is Shetland Heritage, we hope you are enjoying our Wool Week content - make sure to follow our instagram and subscribe to our youtube channel - if you haven't already! Happy Knitting!
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Chunky Knitting
Hello everyone, during these strange times, it can be hard to find things for children and young people to do in their downtime, looking at screens or watching tv is good some of the time but not all the time so knitting could be a new skill they take up, It improves fine motor skills, problem-solving and math skills as well as using their creativity and reducing stress. Our Shetland Chunky range is now discontinued but this means the stock we have is available at a reduced price, originally it was £7.50 per 100g ball but we are now offering it at £3.50 a ball, there are lots of great patterns out there for chunkier yarn and there are a few free patterns which are designed for our Shetland Chunky: Chunkeanie by Woolly Wormhead Inga Scarf by J&S Beanie in J&S Chunky Wool by Liz Lovick These patterns all include different elements of rib, reading your knitting and in the case of the Chunkeanie - knitting in the round. Once these skills are learnt they can be grown upon and using slightly thicker wool, to begin with, will encourage beginners not to give up! There is a lot of help available online too - if you search 'knitting tutorial beginners' on youtube, there are literally hundreds of videos that come up! Happy Knitting!
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Angela Irvines Lace Creations
Hello everyone, Happy Friday! today we thought we'd look at something a bit different and share some of Angela Irvines Shetland Lace creations, in particular her lace Creel lampshade which she shared on Facebook a few days ago, I was blown away by it so asked Angela a few questions about it: For our followers that are not familiar, what is a Creel? A creel is a cage for catching lobsters & crabs on the seabed. What gave you the idea to turn it into a lampshade? The idea came ages ago, a creel is covered in net, and my late brother made many to catch lobsters. I knew they would look fab covered in fine lace. The structure and ‘eye’ of the creel are great sculptural shapes to stretch lace over. Industrial Chic interior fashion is all the rage at the moment too. Was it easy to do? It was very very hard to do, I was amazed I didn't have to re-do any panels. I worked the sizes & stitches out best I could from other creations I gave done on lace furniture panels in the past. The ‘eye’ of the creel was a real challenge to design as it had to finish with the round eye, I just knitted that part as the beginning of a crown for a hat before casting off, it fitted like a glove to my delight! Phew! How did you choose the lace motif's you used in the piece? I chose my favourite auld Shetland Fine Lace seashore themed patterns, ‘Birds Eye’ for the creel eye ( where the lobsters or crabs crawl into the bait & are then trapped) Elaborate Print o’ da Wave top/sides and Alice Maude Pattern for the end as it is a beauty with waves also. You often use Shetland Supreme Lace in your work, what do you like about the wool? I use Shetland Supreme as its the best, strongest, finest, dresses the lace out tight to perfection and un-dyed the colour of wir Shetland sheep. Angela uses our Supreme Lace in her creations like this lamp using Supreme Lace in Grey and the sideboard which features panels in Black Supreme Lace: You can see more of Angela work on here website here, very inspiring! Happy Knitting!
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Lockdown Inspiration
Hello everyone, we hope you are staying safe and well. I thought today we'd share some inspiring finished projects which have been shared to our Ravelry group, it's always interesting to see what other people have been working on using our yarns and it can give you great ideas on patterns, colours and yarns to use: Starting with this beautiful version of Vaila from the Vintage Shetland Book, we love the colours Kim chose in 2ply Jumper Weight and although the shades are quite modern and bright it still gives off great vintage vibes! We shared this project on our social media last week but its so lovely, its the Quaarl Hat pattern knit in Supreme Jumper Weight. We love the big motif on the main body of the hat - it's so impactful and in the natural shades it's just beautiful. This cardigan knit in Shetland Heritage really stood out to me when I saw it and its a great example of someone taking elements from a pattern to make something perfect for them. The lace pattern is from one of the designs in the Legacy of Shetland Lace book. Light Grey Heritage is such a beautiful colour! This scarf is knit using 2ply Supreme Lace held together in a marl and the finished project is so great! We love that it shows the different things you can do with laceweight and the way all the natural colours work together is so inspiring. The pattern is from the new Cecelia Campochiaro book 'Making Marls' This project stood out thanks to the use of Purl Bumps in this pattern, aptly called Purl Bump Mitts is so great and the cuff and fingers texture is so good. simple but so effective! Although it looks like black and white the dark shade is actually Jumper Weight shade 82 which is a really dark green - it works so well with the white. This project shows off the beautiful finished texture of the Shetland Aran Worsted, it looks so soft and the colourwork is so strong, The pattern is Speedy Selbu Mittens and the colour choice is that bit different than usual but still so effective (Berry Wine and Fluggy White). Looking at the recently shared projects on Ravelry always leads you down a happy rabbit hole so during this time when many of us have a bit more time you can spend time looking at some really inspiring projects knit using J&S yarns. Again we'd like to thank you for your support during this time, happy knitting! x
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Lace Patterns
Hello everyone, one of the things we been doing during lockdown is taking our Gladys Amedro and lace patterns and adding them to Ravelry and Lovecraft's as PDF downloads. They are all pre-digital age so it means scanning each page and reformatting them, and as they are all written out that can mean quite a few pages! The Sheelagh Shawl During the 1980s and 1990's Gladys Designed a wide range of Shetland Lace patterns for J&S, they are still some of our best sellers and are seen as some of the most accomplished things you can tackle as a knitter. clockwise: CW103, Sheelagh, CW112 and CW105 So we've added most of the 1ply Shawls that were left to do as well as all the matching Christening Gowns/Robes: l-r: CW111. CW106 and CW104 As well as the Gladys Patterns that were left we've also added the lace scarf patterns: clockwise: Trondra, Dale, Lunna and Tresta And the Stole, Jacket/Bonnet and Grace Jumper: l-r: CW108, CW113 and Grace Unfortunately, we don't have all the samples of the lace items - some because they are from a long time ago and we just don't have them anymore or we're not able to photograph them at the moment but by ensuring they are all listed on Ravelry it means people can link their projects to them so if you've ever made any of these patterns please link them - they are an important part of our history as some over the patterns go back over 30 years! So if you have some time on your hands and some 1ply Cobweb, 1ply Supreme, 2ply Lace or 2ply Supreme this could be the perfect chance to try out some Shetland Lace. Thanks as always for all your support and patience, happy knitting!
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Christmas Ideas 2019
Hello everyone, things are getting pretty chilly here in Shetland and the winter knits have certainly come out - luckily we know just the place to get the wool...! Anyway, the next thing on the calendar, of course, is Christmas so we thought we would share some ideas for presents you could get from J&S for your loved one or of course yourself.. Books always make a great present and there have been a few new ones this year, for those interested in Shetland and its agriculture we released our Seasons of the Shetland Crofter photo book this Wool Week and it makes a great peerie present at just £10, the Shetland Croft range was expanded this year which also meant a new book of patterns and the Shetland Country book is filled with a mix of contemporary designs. As always if you are a fan of J&S our Shetland Story contains our history as well as 10 designs using our yarns. Also released this year have been the Shetland Guilds latest book - Fair Isle Designs from Shetland Knitters Volume Two, its filled with great patterns all from knitters based in Shetland using Shetland Wool, we've also taken in This Golden Fleece by Esther Rutter which you might have seen lots of people talking - our Shetland Heritage Yarn is mentioned on the back cover (proud moment!) Of course we have also got in this year's Shetland Wool Week annual, every year they get bigger and better and this was the biggest to celebrate the 10th year. As always, we also always have a wide range of kits available. If your looking for a smaller item things like the Weisdale Tam, Roadside Beanie and Harriets Yarn packs would make any knitters happy (for the Harriet and Roadside please note the patterns aren't included but the information is on the product page) Another classic kit we have is the Sheepheid by Kate Davies, its uses all 9 of the Natural Shades we sell in the Supreme Jumper Weight, its a more expensive hat kit but you get nine 50g balls so there are lots left over for more hats or mitts. The Skerry Gloves are seasonally traditional but have great use of colour that really stands out and if you are getting ready for Up Helly Aa the Guizers Toorie is perfect! We have kits for bigger projects too like our traditional allover patterns we released this year - Antarctica and Roadside Allovers are designed by Sandra and use traditional Shetland techniques. Following on from the Sheepheid, the Rams and Yowes blanket kit is a dream knit for lots of knitters - we have a sample in the shop and we always joke it must be one of the most petted blankets ever! We have these kit boxes which can be added to any order if you are giving it as a present. The small size is great for peerie kits and the big for garment kits. We also have selection boxes available for most of our yarn ranges which come in the kit boxes - these are great as they give you a taster of a yarn range with a mixture of shades or in some cases the full-colour range. We also stock a range of accessory products which are great as stocking fillers like our peerie Maakin bags, Gauges and glove boards. These smaller things like bags, tape measures, keyrings etc make great additions to gifts especially if you are interested in Shetland knitting and wool. We recently released our new Crew Neck Jumpers knit using 2ply Jumper Weight, we have them available in a range of shades and sizes. These are classic and so very warm - as long as they are looked after they will last a lifetime! We also have a small selection of cushion and rugs, which includes rugs made in our Shetland Heritage yarns, Undyed wool cushions and a limited number of plain Moorit throws. They are perfect for having over your bed or on the back of the couch. Talking of keeping you warm our range of socks made in our Shetland Heritage Naturals make a great present! We have two styles: Toonie which is a ribbed foot and Crofter which has a terry foot. They both come in a selection of colours and sizes. Finally, I thought I'd give a mention to our mug and coasters - we get these made for us in Shetland using designs from our pattern collection, they are really high quality and the designs are exclusive to us so if you or a loved one is a J&S supporter they make a great gift. So I hope that has given you some ideas, it will be here before we know it! These are the recommended last posting dates for Royal Mail and we would advise a least a few days before the date to place your order (in case of weather delays!): Wednesday 18 December UK Monday 9 December Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Central and South America, Far and Middle East Tuesday 10 December Cyprus, Malta Wednesday 11 December Eastern Europe (except Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia) Thursday 12 December Australia, Greece, New Zealand and Turkey Saturday 14 December Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Poland, Sweden, USA Monday 16 December Austria, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland Wednesday 18 December Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg
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Wool Week 2019 - a photo roundup
Hello everyone, happy Friday! It's hard to believe that Shetland Wool Week 2019 ended over a month ago, we had such a busy time but the dust has settled so we thought we'd share some pictures from throughout the week: The Opening Ceremony L: lots of Roadside Beanies R: table decoration featuring scarfs mentioned in this post Oliver giving his speech Judging at the Marts L: on the hoof R: a beautiful Moorit fleece L: Prizewinning fleece R: the winners The Hub L: Lots of Knitters R: Amazing giant Jumper Board Vivian Ross-Smiths' exhibition was on in the Hub space during Wool Week, for more information about Vivian's work see here. L: Burra Bears R: Faye Hackers of the Shetland College and Nicholas Coleridge, Chairman of the Campaign for Wool Oliver giving his talk '50 Years in Shetland Oo' L: The Oo never stops! R: Oliver giving his sorting and grading demonstration L: It was a week of Roadside Beanies R: Amazing Jumper featuring all the motifs from Shetland Wool Week hats past and present. Ruth Mackenzie and Matt Roberts of the Shetland Amenity Trust alongside Oliver presenting Dave Wheeler with his prize for winning our Seasons of a Shetland Crofter Competition. We also launched the book at Wool Week, its available here! So much amazing Knitwear all week! L: a Hevdadale Scarf and Ola Yoke R: A Roadside Skirt! Beautiful fleeces outside the Woolstore L: Roadside Beanie and Glebe Jumper R: Just some of our mail posted out during the week Lots of great memories and friends made as always, for more information about Shetland Wool Week see here, it will soon be here again, Happy Knitting! photos: Adam Curtis, Ella Gordon and one from Sara Granqvist (thanks Sara!)
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Shetland Wool Week Scarf Project
Hello everyone, happy Friday! Today we thought we'd share some images of a project we took part in during Shetland Wool Week which was coordinated by Faye Hackers of the Shetland College. The project took inspiration from people known in the Shetland Textile industry who provided Faye with imagery and text about what they love about Shetland, this was then taken by Faye and designed into one-off scarfs which were auctioned off for charity during a silent auction at Wool Week. Among the people asked were J&S's own Oliver and Ella, former patrons Donna Smith, Elizabeth Johnston and Hazel Tindall. For more information see Fayes Instagram posts. We love how different each scarf was: We were happy to donate all the yarn for the project meaning the scarves were knit in 2ply Jumper Weight or Shetland Heritage, in total the auction raised £1,776.00 of which 100% will be donated to charity as we provided the yarn for free. The charities chosen by the individuals were: Cancer Research UK, CLAN, Shetland MRI Scanner Appeal, Mind Your Head, GlobalYell, Lerwick Brass Band and Whalsay Heritage Centre. All and all it was a great project! Model and white photography: Faye Hackers Museum Photos: John Hunter Models: Akshay Borges and Alanah Young
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